Achieving A Happy Ending With The Tragic Female Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 12

Qiao Wuyu froze for a moment upon hearing the inquiry. She had happened to glance at the stars before arriving. “It has been about two hours. After leaving the city, one can shorten the journey by flying on a sword, they should be on their way back by now.”

Wanqi Yue remembered the words the dark shadow had spoken before departing: “Is Second Senior Sister and the others in danger?”

Su Mi took out the yellow talisman she had been carrying. A burst of spiritual energy from her fingertips caused it to vanish into ash instantly.

When Fang Yun had proposed to pick them up earlier, Su Mi had sensed something unusual but hadn’t overthought it. Too many things had happened tonight; it was her oversight.

Su Mi took a deep breath. “We are going to find them.”

She turned to look at the remaining people in the room. Fang Yun had taken two disciples, leaving three others aside from Wanqi Yue. She couldn’t be certain if this journey would be safe, but leaving them here didn’t seem right either.

After weighing her options, she decided they would all go together.

Despite the massive commotion just now, no one in the inn had come to investigate perhaps out of fear of getting involved in unnecessary trouble.

Once they packed their belongings and left, the path was unobstructed.

Shortly after Su Mi and the others departed, Yue Qianzhou happened to return to the inn. However, he looked quite wretched at this moment. His green robes were crisscrossed with bloodstains, and upon closer inspection, a faint black mist emanated from his wounds, as if he had just survived a fierce battle.

He was about to return to his room when, on a whim, he went to the second floor. There, he saw the rickety wooden door. With a push, he revealed the scene of carnage inside: broken furniture was scattered everywhere, and a table missing a leg was precariously propped up with a money bag placed on top.

Discovering that everyone had left, Yue Qianzhou’s face darkened. He looked down at his wounds, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his brow.

He had only intended to make a show of leaving for a moment, but he hadn’t expected to be entangled by something extremely difficult to shake off on his way back. Had he not tapped into his own hidden power, it would have cost him much more time.

Even so, he hadn’t figured out what the opponent actually was.

And now, this group of people had left again without a word.

A sinister, blood-red shade gradually surfaced in Yue Qianzhou’s eyes. He raised his hand to summon a blood crow, his voice low and rasping: “Go find them.”

High in the sky, the wind howled as the group streaked across the air like falling stars, traveling upon the wind.

Su Mi stood behind Wanqi Yue, sharing a single sword with her.

Unlike the others, whose hair was tossed wildly by the oncoming wind, Su Mi used her spiritual energy to envelop the two of them, keeping them both looking dignified and tidy.

Wanqi Yue, who was staring straight ahead, suddenly slowed her pace and turned her head slightly. “Senior Sister, those two people below look familiar.”

Su Mi focused her gaze, then instructed everyone to descend and investigate.

The two people on the ground, leaning on each other for support, became guarded upon sensing the spiritual energy. Once they saw who it was, they visibly relaxed. One of them, who had been standing, felt their legs go weak and only avoided collapsing by leaning on their spiritual sword.

Su Mi and Wanqi Yue quickly squatted down in front of the disciple, while Qiao Wuyu followed behind, smoothing her ruffled bangs.

“Senior Sister, why are you here? Where is Second Senior Sister and the others?” Wanqi Yue asked anxiously.

“That woman was… was taken away,” the disciple said, their lips pale. They adjusted their breathing and continued, “After we found the woman, we were ambushed. Many controlled commoners were mixed in. In the chaos, we couldn’t protect her, and she was taken by a cloud of black mist. Second Senior Sister then went off alone to chase it.”

Wanqi Yue was somewhat speechless. “Does that dark shadow have clones?”

It seemed the shadow had been keeping itself very busy tonight.

Su Mi’s expression was grim. She disliked the feeling of being led by the nose, her mood worsened, and the aura around her grew heavy.

Qiao Wuyu, who was examining the two disciples, was perceptive enough to move aside to avoid being caught in the fallout of Su Mi’s irritation.

“Which direction did they go?” Su Mi stood up and asked.

One disciple immediately replied, “We gave Second Senior Sister the positioning talisman that Eldest Senior Sister gave us earlier. She should be using it.”

Su Mi scanned the surroundings. Just as she was about to speak, Wanqi Yue interrupted.

“Eldest Senior Sister, I’m coming with you. The person they are looking for is me. Since we’re bound to face them anyway, it’s better if we go together. We might have a better chance of winning. This time, I promise I won’t be impulsive.”

Wanqi Yue guaranteed with absolute sincerity.

Su Mi did not object. She felt more at ease keeping the female protagonist by her side regardless.

After Qiao Wuyu’s examination, it was determined that the two disciples were merely suffering from exhaustion due to overextending their spiritual energy and were otherwise fine.

Knowing they were safe, Su Mi wasted no more time. She decided to set off immediately with Wanqi Yue, agreeing with Qiao Wuyu that if they did not return within a day, they should contact the sect.

This time, she didn’t let Wanqi Yue fly the sword. Because Fang Yun carried Su Mi’s talisman, and because Su Mi had originally intended for them to return quickly, she had compressed a small teleportation array into the talisman. Though it might not be perfectly precise, it would drastically reduce the distance between them.

Su Mi led Wanqi Yue to an open space and began performing hand seals. A pale blue array gradually appeared beneath their feet, rotating slowly.

However, perhaps because the distance was great, the connection to the talisman was somewhat weak.

Wanqi Yue watched Eldest Senior Sister’s long, beautiful fingers move nimbly through the seals, momentarily dazed. She was not good at hand seals, she had always just scraped by in her Array and Seal classes.

But back then, if Eldest Senior Sister had been the one teaching her, she certainly would have studied hard.

“Move closer.”

Wanqi Yue was snapped out of her wandering thoughts and stood close to Su Mi.

Seeing her approach, Su Mi reached out and grabbed her hand. In the next instant, the light from the array beneath them shot into the sky. When it dissipated, the two of them were gone from the clearing.

In a heartbeat, their feet touched solid ground again, and a familiar scene unfolded before their eyes.

The clouds in the sky parted slightly, and moonlight fell upon the lake, rippling with the water.

The ship that had previously been destroyed now appeared perfectly intact before them. It seemed to be silently inviting them aboard.

“Is that Second Senior Sister?” Wanqi Yue could vaguely see a person leaning against the deck of the ship, though they appeared to be unconscious.

Su Mi saw them too, but due to the angle, she couldn’t clearly make out the person’s features or physique.

Staring blankly was not an option.

“Let’s go up and see.” Su Mi paused as something occurred to her, looking at Wanqi Yue. “Can you handle it?”

Wanqi Yue had been somewhat worried about her seasickness, but a sword cultivator cannot bear to hear such a challenge. She nodded firmly. “I can definitely handle it.”

Su Mi didn’t question her further. The two of them landed on the deck and confirmed that the person lying there was indeed Fang Yun.

Fang Yun’s complexion was rosy and she had no visible external injuries, she seemed to be out of any immediate danger. Wanqi Yue fed her a “Universal Pill” given by their Fifth Senior Sister, treating it as a “dead horse as a living horse doctor” (a last ditch effort).

Su Mi scanned the surroundings. This time, there were no red silks or bridal sedans, and the other woman was nowhere to be seen. She glanced at the deck below, wondering if she might be in the cabin.

Suddenly, a gust of night wind swept through. Su Mi looked up alertly.

A dark figure stood atop the towering mast, black robes flapping loudly. The figure was tossing a mirror in its hand, playing with it nonchalantly.

“Still missing one,” the voice said, still disguised and laced with impatience.

Su Mi didn’t quite understand. What did “missing one” mean? Missing who?

She soon found out.

“Here it comes.” Along with a burst of laughter, the dark figure threw the mirror downward.

It landed directly between Su Mi and Wanqi Yue, separating them.

Su Mi finally saw clearly that it was a grey stone mirror. Complex patterns were carved into its dull, rough surface, and a faint yellow light emerged from the handle, gradually filling the grooves of the carvings.

Though she didn’t know what it was, her intuition told her it was nothing good.

She tried to move around the stone mirror to reach Wanqi Yue, but she discovered that as long as she moved, the mirror’s face would turn to follow her. It was the same for Wanqi Yue on the other side.

Seeing the patterns nearly filled, Su Mi shouted, “Junior Sister, move toward me!”

Wanqi Yue immediately started walking, and Su Mi stepped toward her as well. The mirror indeed seemed to “glitch,” freezing in mid-air.

However, just as they were about to touch, they found they could not take another step forward.

Wanqi Yue reached out, trying to touch the Eldest Senior Sister standing right before her eyes, but she couldn’t move even a fraction closer. The two seemed to be isolated within the range of the mirror’s projection.

At that moment, Fang Yun, who had been unconscious on the deck, flickered her eyelashes and woke up. She slowly opened her eyes to see this bizarre scene.

“…Eldest Senior Sister? Junior Sister?” Fang Yun shook her head, trying to clear her mind, and stood up to walk toward them.

The dark shadow seemingly hadn’t expected Fang Yun to wake so early. A look of solemnity flashed across its face beneath the black veil, and it struck out to prevent Fang Yun from approaching Su Mi’s side.

Though Fang Yun was still dazed, her instinctive reflexes remained. She dodged the attack and stepped halfway into the mirror’s range.

Su Mi instantly felt the resistance in front of her lighten significantly. She looked back at Fang Yun, realizing the trick.

The mirror acted like a balance, one person reflected against one person. Neither could leave their respective side. But if an extra person entered, the restriction broke unless the other side also had two people.

Su Mi stepped back two paces, letting the mirror turn fully toward Fang Yun. She felt her own shackles vanish instantly.

Su Mi tried to pull Fang Yun out with her, but discovered only one person could exit. She immediately retreated and yelled to Wanqi Yue, “Go outside!”

Just as Wanqi Yue was about to step out, she was forced back by an attack of black mist, which allowed her no chance to leave.

Seeing this, Su Mi immediately rushed back to Wanqi Yue’s side.

The dark figure released more black mist straight at Su Mi to stop her, but Su Mi was faster. She grabbed Wanqi Yue, standing with her on the same side of the mirror.

While blocking the chaotic attacks from the now-agitated dark figure, Su Mi shouted, “Second Senior Sister, get out of the mirror’s range!”

Fang Yun had regained most of her senses and was about to leave, but she was a step too late.

A figure in green followed closely behind, appearing beside Fang Yun.

“Miss Wanqi!” Yue Qianzhou leaped forward as if to save Wanqi Yue, but his body was slammed back by an invisible force, and he tumbled onto the deck.

Su Mi looked at the man who had just ruined everything. Her knuckles cracked, and the killing intent in her eyes was almost tangible.

Matching her killing intent was the dark shadow, whose surrounding black mist fluctuated irregularly, manifesting its fury.

“Why did you come to save her? Someone was already coming to ‘save’ her!” the shadow roared at Su Mi.

Simultaneously, the patterns on the stone mirror were fully filled. A massive wave of light flooded the mirror’s surface and extended outward.

The scenery illuminated by the mirror began to turn surreal, distorted lights and shadows interlaced and were sucked into the mirror.

Standing close, Wanqi Yue was caught off guard and sucked in. A powerful suction pulled her downward into an abyss.

Su Mi, quick as lightning, gripped Wanqi Yue’s hand tightly, the veins on her forehead bulging with the effort.

Wanqi Yue grew frantic. “Eldest Senior Sister, let go of me!”

Su Mi narrowed her eyes and remained silent, her knuckles turning white. She was losing her grip.

Su Mi glanced back and saw the dark figure behind her also reaching out a hand toward her. Returning her gaze to the vortex, she made a decision.

She stepped forward decisively, wrapped her other arm around Wanqi Yue’s waist, and allowed them both to plunge into the layers of mist within the mirror.

“No!”

The dark figure, arriving a second too late, only managed to brush a strand of Su Mi’s long hair. It could only watch as the mirror swallowed the two of them, the vortex snapped shut, and the object returned to being a dull, grey stone mirror.

The surrounding scenery flashed by like a phantom. Su Mi’s body felt as if it were suspended in air until, after a long while, they hit the ground with a “thud.”

Su Mi felt like her back was splitting open from the pain. It took her a long moment to recover.

She opened her eyes and prepared to stand up, only to see a pink flower bud dangling right in front of her.

The flower seemed startled, it suddenly jerked back, snapped its petals open, and sprayed a cloud of purple mist directly at her.